TSMC to go ahead with second phase of Philips stake sale

By Lisa Wang / STAFF REPORTER

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufac-turing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world's biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday said it planned to sell up to US$2.58 billion in TSMC shares in the US on behalf of Royal Philips Electronics NV.

The latest share offering proposed by Philips would be the second leg of the Dutch company's long-term efforts to offload its total holdings in TSMC by 2010, which is in line with Philip's strategy of exiting the semiconductor industry.

The board of TSMC yesterday approved the plan to sell up to 240 million American Depository Receipts (ADRs), representing as many as 1.2 billion TSMC common shares, for Philips, the Hsinchu-based chipmaker said in a statement.

The 1.2 billion shares represent about 0.77 percent of the total 25.83 billion issued shares. The price of TSMC ADRs dropped 0.46 percent to US$10.75 last Friday. Each ADR represents five TSMC common shares.

Philips would not sell any more TSMC shares in the form of ADRs in the future, as it has agreed to only sell up to US$2.5 billion in TSMC ADRs on the New York Stock Exchange.

That is part of the agreement between Philips and TSMC announced on March 9 which announced the gradual sale of the US$8.5 billion TSMC shares owned by Philips during the next three years.

In mid March, Philips made the first step by selling 887 million TSMC shares for NT$65 (US$1.96) each to local long-term investors, reducing its holding to 12.8 percent from the original 16.2 percent.

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